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Video: Food science researchers discuss flavor sensations

November 6, 2012

Video: Food science researchers discuss flavor sensations

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- As Penn State celebrates 150 years of graduate education, Research Unplugged featured a graduate student researcher at the third talk in its six-event series. Food science doctoral candidate Nadia Byrnes and her faculty mentor, John Hayes, presented "Some Like it Hot: The Science Behind Our Food Preferences." Hayes is assistant professor of food science and director of the University's Sensory Evaluation Center.

In this video excerpt, Byrnes and Hayes explain that a food's flavor is a combination of its taste, aroma and chemesthesis -- chemical-induced sensations such as the burning from chili peppers, the cooling effect of mint, or the prickling sensation of carbonation.

Research Unplugged presentations are held from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. on Thursdays, in the Schlow Centre Region Library's Downsbrough Community Room, in downtown State College. They are free and open to all, with complimentary refreshments, and are sponsored by Penn State University Relations and the Office of the Vice President for Research, in cooperation with Schlow Centre Region Library.